


A New Day Has Come

by LNHWrites



Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: Definitely AU, Drabbles, F/M, Fluff, Liam's kid, falliam, this got way out of hand, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21802765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNHWrites/pseuds/LNHWrites
Summary: A series of headcanons/drabbles based off the idea that Liam's kid might be a little girl, and what that could mean for Fallon, and for their relationship. Rating may change over time depending on content of future additions.Was started before we found out Liam's opinions on children. *shrugs* Oh well.
Relationships: Fallon Carrington/Liam Ridley
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: Because I started this before we found out about Liam's feelings about children, and because it kind of came out of left field in my opinion, I may play with the idea of him being anxious, but this is mostly just for my own amusement now. SO OH WELL. If I get a headcanon, may write it anyway for fun. Haha.
> 
> \--
> 
> So basically this came to me after seeing Adam Huber's latest interview, and talking with my best friend about how Fallon could be really affected if Liam's kid is a little girl, for whom Fallon could potentially be some kind of role model for. So as soon as I had the idea, I made up random names and started writing down headcanons and who the heck knows how many random moments I'll end up writing out? Certainly not me. I already have more than I reasonably should saved on the Notes app on my phone. So yeah. This is mostly just for fun, and will likely be full of fluff because everything I write is like all angst haha.
> 
> Work title was taken from the Celine Dion song because song inspiration is like half the process for me, most times. I think so far just about every one of my fics includes a title from a song lyric. Whoops?
> 
> May edit this later to make sure I didn't just randomly change tenses in the middle, but it's late so here you go.

The first time Liam meets his daughter, he obviously isn't sure what to expect. But actually, there's a feeling of surrealism that he carries with him even on the way there, because despite his expectations otherwise, Fallon told him she was pretty okay with it. Even when it registered that the reason it happened was because of Landon, who she'd inadvertently (but literally) shot. Specifically, she'd come to understand that what Liam meant when he said the internship happened when he was studying abroad, was that it happened at the same time as his relationship with the mother of his child. Really, he was impressed she wasn't flying off the handle.

When he got the call from his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra, he'd been just as surprised with her as with Fallon. First of all, it hadn't occurred to him that she might have made her way from London to the U.S. But perhaps more importantly, it was a complete and utter shock to learn that she had not, in fact, given their child up for adoption. 

No. Instead, his mother had paid Cassie off to keep quiet, when only Liam agreed to the adoption idea. To ensure that the child had whatever they needed, but also to prevent Liam's life from being intertwined with theirs, because of her belief that it would negatively affect him. Liam wasn't sure if he agreed or disagreed.

But it seemed that Landon had reached out to Cassie upon running into Liam again, and she had been relieved to have a way of contacting him without going through Laura. Knowing the sort of person that Cassie was, Liam wasn't taken aback to learn that she didn't blame him. He hadn't known, after all.

So here he is. Driving to meet an eleven-year-old girl on her birthday. He doesn't know if he needs to be, but there's a part of him that recognizes: he's terrified. What if she hates him, and he only makes things worse, or ruins his own daughter's birthday? Then what?

What he realizes he wants is a chance. Just a chance.

To know her, to be there for her should she need him. To learn about her childhood, and what she loves, and if they both hate the taste of this food or that one. He wants to know if there's somehow any part of him there besides just the genetics. Because wouldn't that be something?

Although there's a nagging feeling that he ought to have planned more or brought the girl a gift or something, he's already pulling up outside the building Cassandra wanted to meet at. It turns out to be a hotel in downtown Atlanta, which she and their daughter were staying at in order to meet him. He feels a little bad that they flew out to do so, and wasn't about to keep them waiting.

He walks inside and looks around, finding his way into the little cafe run within the hotel. As he turns his chin to look around, it's like a magnet pulls him straight to a little girl with reddish brown hair, and eyes that are like looking in a mirror. Liam knows full well he's staring but can't stop, because he is immediately sure that's his girl. Has to be.

He lifts his gaze to the woman behind her, and his eyes land on Cassandra, confirming for him what he already knew. It makes him wonder if he would've somehow known, had he met his daughter on his own, without the preparation. Unfortunately, he doubts that he would have. But, perhaps strangely, Liam knew that he loved the little girl already.

“Hi,” Cassie greets him, her nerves obvious in her tone. “Liam... this is Elise.”

Putting a face to a name is truly overwhelming in a way, and for a moment he actually feels himself getting emotional in a way he hasn't since Fallon revealed her secret to him about Trixie, or when she proposed. But he just finds himself crouching in front of his – his – little girl and holding a hand out for her to shake if she wants to.

“Hi, Elise,” he says, completely relieved when she takes his hand. “I'm so excited to meet you. And I'm sorry I haven't done so before. I wish I could have.”

“...S'okay,” Elise replies, all soft voice and sad eyes, and it breaks his heart on the spot.

Liam lifts his eyes to Cassie again, and he can feel how much this means for her, too. It's there in her eyes, like he's sure it is in his. “I told her,” Cassandra says, “how you didn't know. That it wasn't your fault.”

“It's not yours either, Cass.”

She nods, but there's something on her face that says she feels bad about it even so. Cassandra invites him over to a table, and he's totally surprised when Elise motions for him to sit on her side of the booth so she can sit next to him. More unusual to him is the way she stares at him as he answers their questions, like she's trying to see herself in him or like she's silently deciding if she wants him to be her father or not.

He definitely doesn't feel like a father, to be fair. 

But by the end of their meal, it doesn't seem like they regret flying down to see him. But then, while Elise goes to the bathroom, Cassandra hints that she's worried about meeting the girl she's heard about from Landon, who was an absolute mess according to their mutual friend. His girlfriend, who she isn't sure will be a positive influence on her daughter. 

Liam turns red, partly out of a sense of embarrassment that usually only showed up when Fallon did something to directly affect him. But the other part of it was an irritation that others didn't understand her. Yes, she'd been unquestionably out of patience with Landon, but on the other hand, he could look back and recognize that he'd continued to upset her more and more without actually meaning to do so. They'd both been in the wrong on that one.

“I understand how she can come off,” he begins slowly. “But you don't really have the full picture. When we met Landon...” Liam shakes his head, afraid of sounding like a flight risk now that he's finally feeling like he might be getting along with Elise. So yeah, maybe he lies a little. “When we met Landon, I'd been really unwell. And Fallon was terrified. She thought she was losing me, and she's... she's lost a lot. I'm not saying that she's always right, but if you knew her like I did, you'd at least know why she makes the choices she does.”

“And she's just... fine with you having a kid?” Cassandra tilts her head at him skeptically.

“I think you'd understand if I said she was scared. She found out from someone else trying to interfere with us and it... well. It was hard for her. But she's being really supportive. I'm actually really proud of her.” He shrugs one shoulder as he catches sight of Elise heading back through the tables to join them. “I'm not going to push you to let her meet Elise. I'm not. But she'd really appreciate it.”

“I'll consider it. But I want to talk to her first.”

“Of course.”

Liam turns to look at Elise as she reaches them, his concerned expression turning into a smile as she hops up next to him and grins at the both of them.

\--------------------

When Fallon meets Elise for the first time a few weeks later, Cassie's close by but not hovering, which both Liam and Fallon appreciate. Though she pretends otherwise, Fallon is obviously scared just as Liam was, but for far more reasons than she thinks he realizes. Not only could Elise dislike him, but Cassie could. Or she could be terrible with the little girl because she's not used to being around children, and Liam could determine that she's not the sort of person he wants in his daughter's life.

Worse, he could decide he doesn't want her in his life if she messes it up too badly.

All in all, she can barely breathe as he waves her over to the table he and Elise are sitting at. When the little girl sees Fallon, her jaw drops and Fallon comes to an immediate, confused halt. She doesn't recognize Liam's daughter at all, so she doesn't know what the reaction is for.

What she does catch, however, is when Elise leans over the table to her father, pointing at Fallon and going, “That's who you're dating?”

Fallon's heart drops, her eyes widening as she glances around the room, subconsciously seeking out a look at Liam's ex in person. Cassandra's gaze meets Fallon's, but she just seems... nice? A little confused, maybe, but there doesn't seem to be anything hostile in her eyes.

“Yeah?” Liam replies, glancing back at Fallon and looking just as anxious.

But then Elise jumps out of her seat and rushes up to Fallon, who barely stops herself from taking a step back. “You're--” Elise starts, shaking her head as she stares up at Fallon. “You were on that cover! You're-- You're Fallon Carrington.”

“I.. Well, yes,” Fallon agrees, baffled. But, which cover? The one about her being a businesswoman of the year? Or something more recent, perhaps to do with her father's trial? That hadn't gone well, after all. She looks up at Liam as he approaches, reaching a hand out to cautiously touch Fallon's arm.

“Elise?” He asks, brow furrowing.

“That's so cool!”

Fallon's shoulders relax, sort of rolling back to help her stand up a little taller. “Oh. Well... You clearly know who I am,” she says to the little girl. “But how about you tell me about you, huh?” Her smile is completely genuine and flattered, and she can feel the way Liam steps closer and hugs her to him. She hopes it's approval, not just further worries.

Frankly, though she hadn't told him so before, Fallon had been pretty convinced that Liam was going to give her some kind of how-to before letting him meet his daughter. After all, she had never been good at holding her tongue. He hadn't, though, and she liked to believe that it was because he had some kind of faith in her, if only because this first meeting was quite literally make-or-break for them if it went exceptionally badly.

He walks her over and lets her slide into the booth first, opposite Elise. Though she prefers not to have to scoot, she obviously does so for him. She'd do just about anything for him, after all. Once he settles in, too, she reaches for his hand again, resting their entwined fingers atop his leg in a quiet request for support and stability.

Liam will tell her later that it's fascinating to watch Fallon with Elise. He'll tell her how he's impressed by how seriously she took it, how kind she was, and how he absolutely loved watching seeing the way she opened up, even with Cassandra watching them.

And he's not wrong. Over their meeting, she finds herself really liking Elise, and seeing so much of Liam in her despite the fact that they only met a few weeks before, and she actually stops thinking about the fact that they're in public, which she sometimes can't even do when it's just her and Liam out somewhere. She laughs out loud at Elise's sass, which is ironically similar to her own, back before Alexis left. And she begins relaxing her hold on Liam's hand as well, when she realizes that Elise doesn't know the whole truth about who she is. Perhaps one day the little girl will find out, but Fallon decides immediately that she'll be damned if she doesn't convince Liam's daughter that she's great before that day comes.

Fallon, though, can't stop looking in Cassandra's direction. They'd spoken over the phone, and via face time, but this is different. She's absolutely shocked that she was allowed to meet Elise before coming face to face with the girl's mother, but there's something to be said for Cassandra's respect for Liam and even for Fallon, despite the fact that Fallon isn't totally sure she deserves it. So when Elise asks what time it is and Liam tells her it's nearly four, they realize it's time for them all to get going.

Liam stands up and Fallon watches as Elise hugs him. Tight. Like she doesn't want to let him go again. And it makes Fallon's stomach turn a little to think about how she and Liam only flew out to see them for the weekend, in case Cassandra didn't approve and wanted them to leave. That, on top of Fallon's meetings as she attempted to really build the reputation of her magazine. After she made a conscious effort to be better, and let Liam write what he really wanted to, it had gone better than she'd expected, and the two of them were better than ever.

Nonetheless, she wonders in that moment whether she's really a good influence. She wonders if she'll make the wrong call, say the wrong thing, and inevitably upset Elise like she has everyone else. And what if she upsets Liam's daughter to the extent that she's hurt him in the past, and he takes her side? What if that makes him change his mind?

The fears are back like they'd never left, and Fallon realizes Liam is waiting for her to stand up as well. She puts on a smile that only Liam seems to notice is fake, and makes her way out of the booth so she can stand beside Liam and offer a hand to Elise. 

The little girl blinks at Fallon, shakes her head, and steps forward to hug her father's girlfriend regardless of whether or not it's wanted.

And Fallon, much to her surprise, realizes that it's exactly what she'd hoped for when Liam started to wrap things up. The pleasant surprise lights up her face, and when she looks up at Liam, she sees the way he's beaming at her. Moreover, Cassandra walks up behind him, a small smile on her face as well. Fallon's arms carefully curl around Elise's shoulders in return.

"Elise," Cassie beckons as their hug breaks apart. 

Fallon stands up a bit straighter, unsure what to do with herself, and clings on when Liam takes her hand. Cassandra hands Elise her phone and asks her to give them a minute, so Elise wanders off towards the front of the cafe, lingering within the door as she pulls up some app to play a game while she waits.

"Thank you," Fallon manages, knowing that's what Liam would want her to say. "For making time for this. I can't imagine it's easy to do."

"Liam made some convincing points over the last few weeks. And she obviously likes you. But I'm sure you know that I'm protective of her."

Fallon nods quickly. "Of course. ...She's really lucky to have a parent who so obviously cares as much as you do."

Liam squeezes her hand tightly, catching her underlying meaning, but doesn't get into it. Instead, he just smiles at the both of them. "It means a lot, Cassie. Seriously. If you need anything, or there's anything we can do for you two, let us know. Okay? Anything."

Cassandra nods, and a few pleasantries later, Cassie and Elise are on their way home, and Liam takes Fallon back to their hotel room. Relieved, a little shaken, and exhausted from the day, Fallon spends the rest of the evening just quietly ruminating on what happened while Liam gets some writing done. And when she finally asks how he feels, he just tells her that - although it's hard to tell so soon - he's pretty sure he hasn't felt this comfortable and complete in a long, long time. And although part of her wishes that she were enough on her own, Fallon's pretty sure she understands. And definitely can't blame him for feeling better now that he's finally gotten everything in his life a little more on track.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, folks! If you're anything like me, the holidays aren't super wonderful like they're supposed to be. So I'll be posting a few updates throughout the day when I get time. And perhaps it'll be a good distraction/something else to think about if you need it.
> 
> On a brighter, and deeply amusing note, my best friend got me a gift for Christmas, made up of Fallon/Femperial/Dynasty related merch and I laughed so hard I cried. So here's hoping today turns out better than you'd expected, too! <3

As much as Fallon said - and thought - she was fine with the idea of Liam's child and her recent appearance in their lives, that changed for her immediately when the pitch was made to her one seemingly normal afternoon.

"What--?" She faltered, blinking up at Liam across the desk from her. "Why?"

"Fallon..." He sighed, looking down at his hands. She could see a sort of resignation on his face: One that said she was doing exactly what he had expected her to do. Fallon hated that look, because it only came up when she was disappointing or frustrating him. It always made her want to backtrack, but this? This was beyond what she had anticipated, and that made her just as uncomfortable.

"I thought she approved. She said she was okay with us."

Liam scooted his chair forward to set his elbows on the top of the desk as he leaned forward in an attempt at making himself clear. "You can't expect her to be fine with a woman sleeping over while Elise is there. Regardless of who it is. She doesn't really know us, Fal. She doesn't know what-- what our schedules are, or-"

"Or what we get up to?" She snapped, lifting a challenging eyebrow. "Come on, Liam."

Fallon, for one, was convinced that the problem was rooted in the fear that Elise would start actually liking Fallon more than she'd seemed to upon their initial meeting. After her promises to Liam that she would be better behaved, it was killing her that she was meant to act calm about things like this. What was she supposed to do? Ruin his chance at seeing his daughter? If she went too far on this, she'd be taking away a whole weekend from them, when after weeks of phone calls and limited contact, Cassandra was giving him a real chance.

She could see in his eyes what it meant to him. And that just made it hurt even more.

"Fallon," he said again, shaking his head at her. "What do you want me to do?"

Reeling herself in for the moment, she just shrugged as if she couldn't care less. When really, of course, she wanted to yell her response instead of mutter it with a flat tone. "Just go home. Get ready for her visit. I'll just see you here next week."

He stayed put for a while, waiting for her to go on, she supposed, but Fallon didn't give an inch. She just turned back to her computer and ignored him. But as soon as he stood up, sighed once more, and walked out..? She spun a little in her chair and groaned, dropping her head against the back.

\-----------

The weekend was pure torture. Not for Liam, but for Fallon. Although, actually, Fallon didn't actually _know_ how things were going for Liam. He must have been upset with her, or perhaps thought she would be upset with him if he reached out, because it was radio silence between the two of them throughout Elise's visit.

By Sunday night, she was so antsy that she'd started actively sticking her nose into things that didn't need her attention. In fact, she had been all but kicked out of the manor for lingering downstairs and pacing back and forth through the kitchen while she tried to distract herself with magazine plans, which she'd been typing onto her phone.

So when she showed up at Club Colby, Monica didn't look entirely surprised. The news of Liam's plans had been brought up the night he mentioned it to Fallon, and in truth, Monica had been waiting. Fallon had lasted longer than her friend had expected her to, in all fairness.

"What took you so long?" Monica asked teasingly when Fallon approached. It was clear even at a cursory glance that Fallon had spent a little too long fussing over her appearance. Another distraction.

Fallon shot her a frustrated look out of the corner of her eye. "I need a drink," she grumbled instead.

"I thought you liked his kid."

Even as Monica voiced her confusion, she waved down the bartender to get Fallon her go-to, and the Carrington sat herself down on one of the bar stools. "I do. She's really sweet, polite..."

Monica tilted her head, sitting down next to her. "So what's the problem?"

"It's easy to be fine with someone when they're halfway across the country," Fallon pointed out glumly. "But, I don't know. I guess I didn't realize that Cassandra would cut me out."

The problem wasn't Liam, at least not entirely. She knew why he had gone along with what Cassie wanted; if he hadn't, she might have used it as an excuse not to go out of her way to help Elise see her father. Thus far, she'd been fine with them communicating, but only under her own supervision. This was different, and Fallon didn't want to ruin it. But it killed her to think that the arrangement might not change. If she wasn't given a chance, how could they ever find out whether things would work?

"Well," Monica began somewhat reluctantly, "I know a thing or two about parental issues -- at least in the vein of what might be happening in this case. Try to imagine how you felt about Cristal and your dad. The original Cristal, I mean. But this time you're Alexis, and your kid is actually your whole world, and she's still young and impressionable. And... _Cristal_ is great, and beautiful, and your child's father loves her. You'd feel threatened, right?"

Fallon furrowed her brow, considering as she took a sip of the drink the bartender handed her. "I think I got lost in there somewhere, but I guess I can see what you mean..."

"Just... keep it in mind, okay?" Monica reached over to pat Fallon's shoulder, but had to head off whenever something came up with the speaker system.

Though she did try to take what Monica said into account, it didn't change the fact that she was feeling like Cassandra disapproved. And frankly, so much had happened that Fallon wasn't surprised. She'd been fully supportive when she thought maybe it would be a one-time, awkward meeting. And then she'd been invited to meet Elise, and thought that perhaps if she were part of the whole thing, it wouldn't be so hard. 

But it well and truly sucked.

So she spent the evening drinking and watching the acts that Monica had booked to perform, casually contemplating whether any of them were good enough to sign with their label. But around ten-thirty, her phone started buzzing.

Liam. She answered immediately, if a little clumsily. "Dropped her off at the airport?" She asked in lieu of a greeting. Her cheek dropped into one hand as she leaned sideways over the bar.

"Yeah," he confirmed. There was a moment of quiet before he added, "Damn, it's loud on your end."

"Sorry," Fallon shrugged, though he of course couldn't see her.

"I've missed you," he offered, sounding a bit uncertain now. "Do you want to come over? Or I could head to you."

She glanced around, then down at her nearly empty drink, and decided it would be best to go to him instead of asking him to come out on a Sunday night, when she should've been at home preparing for work the next morning. "I'll call a car," she mumbled. He didn't quite hear her the first time, so she practically shouted it the second, and ended the call as soon as she could after he seemed to catch on to the fact that she wasn't quite herself.

\---------

Unfortunately for Fallon, she had not sobered up much at all by the time the car dropped her off at Liam's apartment. She considered loitering outside until the cool air caught up to her and sorted her out. But he was waiting, and her mind kept pointing out that she'd been away from him long enough. So she made her way into the elevator and down to his door, which she knocked on perhaps a touch too loudly.

"Fal?" Liam looked confused when he saw her, trying to take in the hair falling from her up-do and the slightly bleary look in her eyes. "Are-- are you okay?"

"Sure," she offered, stepping inside without proper invitation, and setting her bag down on the first appropriate surface. 

He closed the door before reaching out to turn her towards him, and had to tilt his head to look her in the eye. "Hey. What's wrong?"

Fallon waved a hand at him, then let the hand settle lightly against his chest. "I'm fine. I went to see Monica is all."

"Why don't we sit down, then," he offered. 

Pretty proud that he hadn't seemed to catch on to her inebriated state, she nodded a bit too firmly, and led the way around to the couch, her hand catching his and clinging on tightly. 

"So," Liam began slowly as he sank into the spot next to her. "Do you want to tell me why you've been drinking?" She blinked at him in obvious surprise, so he pushed ahead. "Was it Blake? Or Adam?"

Fallon shook her head. Of course it wasn't. When she got mad at her father or at Adam, she got even. She schemed and planned and made every step as carefully as she could to ensure they wouldn't be able to get the upper hand -- or, at least, to try and keep them from getting too many steps ahead. But with Liam? When it came to him, she didn't quite know what she was doing, even as she started doing it. She'd blink, and the next thing she knew, she was going hunting without even paying enough attention to the gun, even though they both knew full well she had been properly trained. Hell, she had earned her license and everything.

Tonight wasn't exactly an exception, was it?

"Not them. You."

"Me?" Liam scooted closer to her, reaching for her hand with both of his. "Fallon, what-?"

"I'm not going to hold you back, Liam. I promised I wouldn't do that anymore."

He frowned, tilting his head in a manner that even sober Fallon would've found completely charming. "Has something happened?"

She wasn't sure what he expected. Another editor wanting to further Liam's career themselves after buying Femperial, maybe? Another problem with the inaugural issue of her magazine? "No. No, with Elise and Cassandra, and you need to do what she wants and I get that, but like, also it sucks."

"Ah." Liam lifted one hand to try and fix her hair, but he gave up quickly. Instead, he wrapped that arm around her shoulders and drew her against his side. "I see."

"Monica said it made sense and I shouldn't be bothered by it, but the thing is, I still am. I know that everything with the trial, and with my family, and the whole Trixie thing, and everything I've done to you, and my _weddings_ \-- it's a lot. I know that. I get why she wouldn't want me to-"

"Fallon. Sweetheart, no. It's not... it's not any of that. She hasn't gone digging into you," he assured her. "But you have to understand, this is a new thing. Elise had never been to Atlanta before, much less with me, like that. Put yourself in her shoes. Would you really want to spend a weekend with a brand new parental figure, and that parent's new significant other, when you didn't even know them very well, yet?"

Oh. So it was _Elise_ who didn't want Fallon there. Wow. That somehow hurt even worse than Cassandra not trusting her. How curious. 

But Fallon didn't comment on that. It wouldn't help, when Liam's point was technically valid. It was a lot to take in, especially during a confusing time like one's middle school years. And, to be fair, Fallon was also taking her presumed slight pretty hard considering she was still on the wrong side of tipsy. Maybe in the morning, she'd wake up with a hangover she fully deserved, but with a lighter perspective on the whole thing.

"Fal?"

"It's fine," she told him, though neither of them could really have believed her when she used that higher-pitched, uneasy tone. She rushed to add something on that could somehow fix it. Or at least get Liam to drop it for the time being. "I'll get over it." But that was a lie, too, wasn't it? "Can we just go to bed?"

He conceded easily, and helped her into his room. Though he tried to get her to change into something of his, she just crawled under the covers and waited for him to join her. When he did, she curled around him tightly, and tucked her face into his neck almost uncomfortably in an attempt at breathing him in to ground her. 

"I really think we should talk about this further," he said carefully, wrapping his arms around her in return. "You really need to understand, Fal. It's not about you. Really. Elise thinks you're fantastic. She saw that picture of us in the living room and couldn't stop asking about us, and what you do, and how you are... But we have a decade of lost time to make up for, me and her. And that needs to start with us. The foundation that's built will help support the three of us -- plus her mother."

Fallon's eyes were scrunched closed as she listened and tried to accept what he was saying. "I'm trying," she offered quietly. "But you know where I'm at with the whole _family_ thing. I'm not used to a functional one, and... I don't want to mess yours up, but I don't want to not be part of it, either."

"Nothing about this changes where I'm at with you. Or what this," he gestured between the two of them, "means to me. I promise."

"I love you," she told him, firmer than anything else she'd said that night. And frankly, if he didn't realize by now that saying those words sometimes felt pretty difficult, she would've been surprised. So when he pressed a kiss to her forehead and said the words back, she felt herself relax into his embrace a bit further. 

"I thought you were angry," he admitted finally. "I would've asked you to come by for dinner, but I didn't want to push you so soon."

"Next time?"

"Definitely," Liam agreed. And there was a lightness to his tone that she felt rather proud of evoking, considering she so frequently was the cause of pretty much any other emotion from just about everyone. "Thank you. I know this is the last thing you expected to happen, after everything else."

She tilted her head back to look up at him. "You sounded happy," she explained. "When you called earlier. I refuse to ruin that if I can help it."

Liam kissed her and pulled the blankets around them more tightly. She could see in his eyes, as he shifted to face her, that he indeed looked content despite the fact that she really could have sabotaged the whole thing if she didn't love him so damn much. "I am. I'm really happy. I know things aren't perfect, Fal, but that doesn't mean they aren't good. Let's just focus on work, okay? That's what we're good at. And we'll figure out the next step when we get there."


End file.
